Why the US will probably fall short of its Paris Agreement emissions target

The United States, which produces one-sixth of the planet’s total greenhouse gas emissions, has volunteered to slash emissions by 26 to 28 percent of 2005 levels by 2025 as its contribution to the soon-to-be ratified Paris Agreement.

Many have voiced concerns about how achievable this goal is, and a new analysis of both adopted and proposed measures conducted by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and published in the journal Nature lends legitimacy to the skeptics, finding that a lack of data and insufficient policies could make it very difficult for the US to meet its goal.